Gun Violence Prevention

Oregon PSR's Peace Program works to educate on the public health impacts of America's epidemic of gun violence. We advocate for gun violence legislation in Oregon that is protective of our communities.

The American Medical Association has declared that gun violence in the United States is a public health crisis. From 2010 to 2014, over 2,000 people in Oregon died from firearms injuries, with suicide accounting for the majority of these deaths. Black males between the age of 15-35 are disproportionately likely to be killed by firearms, and black lives constitute about a quarter of lives lost to police shootings. The prescription for this crisis is clear: police accountability and gun violence prevention laws are needed to save Oregonian lives from this public health emergency.

Oregon PSR acknowledges that gun violence, like so many public health crises, disproportionately impacts people of color and is most effectively tackled by strong, tight-knit communities of resilience coming together to discern best solutions.

High school student winners and their families pose with Oregon PSR staff, the keynote speaker, and judges of the 2017 Greenfield Peace Writing Scholarship. The prompt of the scholarship was "How would you solve the public health crisis of gun violence?"